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Chapter Twenty

Chase

“There are too many tunnels,” Nalithor murmured while I stood nearby, fanning myself. “I’m uncertain how we’re meant to find the Exiles or the Zehyloran children. There are far too many places they could be hiding.”

“I still think south is the wrong direction.” I tapped my foot. “Irt’chkali wouldn’t be responsible for the bite out of the aether we saw when we first arrived. My guess is that was the closest we’ve been to our quarry since arriving in Falrrsald.”

“Now that I can see it for myself, I truly understand why this crimson and silver aether put you on edge.” Nalithor frowned as he walked toward me, but his gaze was on our surroundings. “Not quite as unnerving as this seeming disappearance of life.”

“I can’t help but think we stumbled into something by coming to Falrrsald.” I nodded, following his gaze.

“We’ll head north as planned.” Nalithor motioned for me to follow him. “I will use my power over earth to search for our quarry beneath the surface.”

“Oh? So, I get to play guardian?” I grinned at him. “Well, I won’t complain. We should do what we can to find them, and searching underground is your forte, not mine.”

We spent the next several days traveling north along the border between Falrrsald and the Vorpmasian Empire. Gradually, we began to see signs of life returning to the plains. There were still more beasts present than we would have liked, but we dispatched them all with ease. Few were Duxes—the ones that were attempted to flee from us.

What we hadn’t expected was to see no sign of the tribes at all. As far as we knew, the Human and Elven deities hadn’t interfered with the tribes beyond approaching the foul bastards residing in Dragon’s Watch. Yet we hadn’t found traces of travel, camps, anything.

If they had fled into Vorpmasian territory, we should have at least found tracks from the tribes or their animals.

I kept an eye on our surroundings while Nalithor paced around the area we had first landed. The “bite” that had been taken out of the aether was still there, though faded. My nylziis had been in deep thought for what fell like an hour but was probably only a few minutes. I was bored playing lookout.

In the distance, thunder rumbled. There was nothing but grass and occasional monoliths for as far as I could see. While the aether felt more normal in the area, it didn’t look it.

“Not here,” Nalithor stated when he finally turned to rejoin me. “Regarding what bit the aether, I don’t think we need to worry about it. There’s tinges of magic similar to that of a Guardian.”

“You think someone’s Guardian tried to eat the aether?” I glanced around him.

“It could be a rogue or a wardless one,” Nalithor replied. “Guardians with no ward will often hoard or eat aetherically-charged items to maintain their abilities until they’re assigned one.”

“But it shouldn’t be something for us to be concerned about?” I frowned.

“Hardly. If we stumble across and it is in trouble, that’s another matter.” Nalithor crossed his arms, glancing off into the distance. “This behavior isn’t unusual for their kind.”

I wasn’t convinced but I decided to drop the subject for the time being.

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We adopted a leisurely pace and headed north yet again. Nalithor’s power permeated our surroundings while I kept an eye out for threats. The number of tunnels and caves seemed to be reduced in the area we were traveling, leaving me to wonder where our quarry might have disappeared to. There didn’t seem to be any indications of demigods or deities anywhere near us, and I doubted they were powerful enough to hide their presence from us.

“Hmmm…” Nalithor murmured a while later, drawing my attention to him. He had a subtle frown on his face and his tail had begun to twitch.

“Smells like food,” I remarked, watching as my nylziis summoned his spear. The scent of roasting meat wasn’t all. The aether in the area seemed to have constant ripples running through it, as if someone was using the same spell at set intervals—or perhaps channeling one.

“We will proceed with caution.” Nalithor gave me a pointed look and waited until I had summoned Eoraso before continuing, “I don’t sense any mages, but something must be causing the ripples.”

We made our way onward, eventually finding a small, above-ground camp of Devillians.

“Rely’ric, Reiz’tar!” one exclaimed, spotting us before the others.

“I didn’t expect to see Vorpmasians during out hunt,” Nalithor remarked as the rest of the men and a few women bowed to us.

“We’re mapping the border, Rely’ric,” an Imviir woman stated. “His Excellency sent several dozen groups such as ours out with the intent to fill out our maps of the region.”

“I guess that would be the source of the ripples?” I murmured, glancing toward the Magitech device at the center of their camp. It radiated consistent heat, and it appeared that they were using it to cook their dinner.

“It would seem so.” Nalithor sighed, though he didn’t stash his weapon. “Have you lot seen any unusual activity since arriving?”

“Still investigating, are you?” A man shook his head. “Only been here a few hours, I’m afraid. You two are the first people we’ve come across.”

“Then we shall continue our search.” Nalithor nodded to the group before taking me by the hand and leading me away. ‘We are close to the last place our prey was spotted. Once we have searched the area, and if find nothing, we will return to our domain for the night.’

‘I’m starting to wonder if the rumors that brought us out here were false.’ I frowned. ‘I thought we would’ve found something by now.’

‘It’s troubling, that much is certain.’ Nalithor sighed and balanced the shaft of his spear against one shoulder. ‘There is every possibility that our prey is no longer in Falrrsald. It has been quite some time.’

‘Should we ask the Lari’xan for “guidance?”’ I laughed when my nylziis grimaced. ‘I doubt they’ll help us much either…but it is in their best interests that we don’t wander around aimlessly for too long, right? If the Zehyloran children are elsewhere, or on the opposite side of Falrrsald, we will have to wait to rescue them anyway.’

‘You’re right.’ Nalithor nodded in reluctance. ‘I would rather not return to the Lari’xan empty-handed, but we can’t spend months combing the area either. We’ve already been here too long.’

Several hours passed before we gave in and contacted Sihix. When the Lari’xan of Darkness appeared near us, it was with a frown on his face. He examined our surroundings in silence for several long moments before finally turning his attention to us.

“You’re right. There aren’t any traces of deities or demigods here aside from yourselves.” Sihix crossed his arms, tilting his head as if he were listening for something. “The aether hasn’t seen anyone or anything matching the description of your target, either…interesting.”

“Shouldn’t you be able to tell where they are?” I huffed at him.

“I should be able to, yes.” Sihix’s frown deepened. “Since I can’t, well, there’s only so many places they could be.

“For now, I want the both of you to return to your temple and stay there until an airship can fly you back to Vorpmasia. We will finish with the elemental prisons soon. If there is still no sign of the Zehyloran children in them, that will narrow our options significantly.”

Without another word, the Lari’xan disappeared again, leaving Nalithor and I to sigh our irritation.

“He expects us to walk all the way back?” I pouted.

“We might get away with using our domain to return to the temple…” Nalithor murmured, before grimacing and shaking his head. ‘Though, I’m not convinced that inviting the Jivyador’s irritation is a wise move.’

‘I’m starting to think sending us on a wild goose chase was the Lari’xan’s intent all along!’ I huffed, kicking the dirt.

‘Perhaps.’ Nalithor put an arm around my shoulders, sighing. ‘We’ll make our way back to the temple in the morning.’

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